Rerouting Paseo around the law

By David Phillips

At this moment, the lawsuit filed against the mayor and Albuquerque City Council by the New Mexico Archeological Council, National Trust for Historic Preservation and a consortium of other environmental and social justice groups over Paseo del Norte is like two sumo wrestlers doing their stretches. It's all preliminary wrangling over matters of state law.

An interview with Greg Palast

By Tim McGivern

Greg Palast grew up in a Los Angeles house sandwiched between a landfill and power plant. Maybe there was something in the air that made him crazy—in a good way. Maybe it's the kind of upbringing he endured in the "scum end of L.A." that gave him his perspective on the human condition, which has led him to become one America's most fearless and yet little known investigative journalists. Little known in his own country, that is, but popular in Europe, where he reports for England's BBC TV network and the nation's leading newspapers, the Guardian and Observer.

The president of El Salvador, Tony Saca, was in town last week, pumping hard for support for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). His audience at a breakfast at the Hispanic Cultural Center was the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, one in a two-week cavalcade of infomercials and pep rallies across the country.

Do something to really support the troops

By Jim Scarantino

Those stupid yellow ribbons. None of the U.S. soldiers in Iraq benefit when someone slaps a "Support Our Troops" magnet on the back of their car. It's Chinese manufacturers and their stateside retailers that benefit from each sale. The proceeds do not "Support Our Troops."

Dateline: Russia—A Russian astrologer named Marina Bai wants nearly $250 million in damages from NASA for upsetting the balance of the universe. According to Russia's Pravda news site, Bai believes that NASA's Deep Impact space probe, due to smash into the Tempel 1 comet on July 4, is a “terrorist act.” NASA scientists hope the mission will reveal what comets are made of when they observe the probe's impact. In addition to disturbing the movement of cosmic forces, Bai believes that the comet impact is also a personal assault on her grandparents, as the comet heralded the beginning of their relationship. One court has already thrown out the case on the grounds that Russia has no legal jurisdiction over the American space agency. Bai's lawyer has taken the case to a higher court which is debating if NASA is in fact representing Russia through the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

I am a longtime Alibi reader, and I've had enough. To be specific, I've had enough of Greg Payne and his childish column, “Payne's World”--which is a little like Michael Jackson's Never Land: seems nice and harmless on the outside, but it's really sick and twisted on the inside.